We are the only species on the planet that makes music. Moreover, all human societies make music of some kind. This is because music is hardwired into the human brain, just as language is. In this workshop we will examine what music is, and explore the ways in which our brains "hear" and respond to various kinds of music: both music that is familiar and music from other cultures. We will also look into the differences between recorded and live musical performances and discuss ways in which music is an integral part of our daily lives. One aim is that by the end of the workshop, we will all consider ourselves truly "musical" and appreciate the effects that music can have on the brain, providing numerous benefits to our overall wellbeing.

Dr. Amanda Gillis-Furutaka is a professor of English and British Culture at Kyoto Sangyo University. She became fascinated by the findings of neuroscience when she first started working on her PhD in music and has continued to explore recent discoveries about various aspects of the brain and how they can be applied to daily life. She is Program Chair of the JALT Mind Brain and Education SIG and a regular presenter and contributor to the SIG's monthly magazines called Think Tanks. To find out more about the Mind, Brain, and Education SIG, visit their website.

This event is co-sponsored with SIETAR Kansai and will be followed by a dinner party at a nearby restaurant. RSVP by Friday, July 24th, to fujimotodonna@gmail.com

Aiko Fukazawa is an undergraduate student of Osaka Jogakuin University.

She presented on computer literacy in Japan. Thanks to the development of mobile phones and tablets, people can access the internet anytime and anywhere. However, some students have difficulties in class because they do not have basic knowledge of how to use computers. This presentation will look at the current situation of computer literacy in Japan and discuss the results of a survey on computer literacy at a Japanese university.

Each year, JALT awards up to three grants for a maximum of 100,000 yen each for research on language teaching in Japan. Only JALT members who have no outside funding sources to conduct research are eligible to apply. The goal of the grants is to support language teachers in their professional development and to encourage teachers to engage in classroom-based research. Grant applications are collected each summer and vetted by the JALT Research Grants Committee. Winners of the grants receive funding before the start of the following school year during which they conduct their studies, provide quarterly reports, and receive guidance from the committee. Following the completion of the research, winners are invited to give presentations on their projects at the JALT national conference and to publish a paper in the Language Teacher. The deadline for proposals for projects starting in the 2020 school year is September 30th, 2019.

Back to School 2019 is Osaka JALT’s 9th annual spring mini-conference which aims to share ideas on a wide range of language teaching and learning topics to help everyone in the new academic year. With long and short presentations, poster sessions, and plenty of time to socialize (including a dinner party afterward at a nearby restaurant), there is sure to be something for everyone.

This event is again co-sponsored by Osaka Jogakuin University's Research Institute of International Collaboration and Coexistence Research on Language Learning (RIICC).

Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs. Founded in 1924 and headquartered in Colorado in the U.S., the organization has more than 357,000 members in more than 16,000 clubs in 143 countries. It has helped people from diverse backgrounds become more confident speakers, communicators, and leaders.

In this presentation, the audience will be given an overview of Toastmasters International and Toastmasters in Japan. Stories about Toastmaster’s members’ experiences both inside and outside the Toastmasters environment and how those experiences have been personally beneficial will be shared. The audience will then experience a Toastmasters demonstration meeting. In addition, there will be an interactive workshop called “Thinking and Speaking on Your Feet,” a session which aims to help people practice their impromptu speaking skills. These skills will help people feel more confident in common, everyday situations.

Ludlow Gibbons came to Japan from the U.S. in 1992 and has taught English at the elementary, secondary, and tertiary levels, currently teaching at Ritsumeikan University. He joined the Osaka Toastmasters Club in 1995 and has been actively involved in establishing clubs in Kansai, volunteering as an officer in the Toastmasters International organization, and occasionally participating in speech contests to maintain his public speaking proficiency. Ludlow is also a past President of Osaka JALT.

This event is co-sponsored by SIETAR Kansai and will be followed by a dinner party at a nearby restaurant. RSVP by Friday, April 26th, to fujimotodonna@gmail.com

Due to the rainy weather forecast in the afternoon we've decided to nix part 1 of our hanami weekend, but the evening Nijikai at the Shinsaibashi Blarney Stone is still on, starting from about 9:00 or whenever you'd like to join us.

Come join the Osaka JALT team for the first of our double-header hanami celebrations of 2019 from 2 to 6 pm in Osakajokoen (Osaka Castle Park). This is a FREE event which is open to everyone, so please feel free to bring family, friends, colleagues, students, or people you meet on the train. Bring something to eat and drink, as well as a happy vibe to celebrate the cherry blossoms and the coming of spring! Stop by when you can for as long or as short as you like. Look for our blue JALT banner on the south side of the park, due south of the castle and north of the NTT Building, to the west of the bus parking area, an easy walk from Morinomiya or Tanimachiyonchome metro stations. If you have any trouble finding us please call 080-5354-7398 or 080-3772-0449.

In the evening, join us at The Blarney Stone in Shinsaibashi to check out Osaka's pop/glam rock/television theme song cover band, The Ballbreakers, led by our chapter Publicity Chair, Paul Mathieson, playing from about 9:00 to 11:30 pm. That's sure to be a lot of fun , and a great way to help get ready for the new school year! There's a private party at the Blarney Stone before 9:00, and some of us will be meeting before that from about 7:30 at the nearby Slices restaurant/bar.

Part 2

Come join the Osaka JALT team for the second of our double-header hanami celebrations of 2019 from 2 to 6 pm in Osakajokoen (Osaka Castle Park). This is a FREE event which is open to everyone, so please feel free to bring family, friends, colleagues, students, or people you meet on the train. Bring something to eat and drink, as well as a happy vibe to celebrate the cherry blossoms and the coming of spring! Stop by when you can for as long or as short as you like. Look for our blue JALT banner on the south side of the park, due south of the castle and north of the NTT Building, to the west of the bus parking area, an easy walk from Morinomiya or Tanimachiyonchome metro stations. If you have any trouble finding us please call 080-5354-7398 or 080-3772-0449.

On December 2, 1938 the first refugees from the operation that would be known as Kindertransport arrived in Harwich, U.K. with 196 children from a Jewish orphanage in Berlin that had been burned by the Nazis during Kristallnacht ("Night of the Broken Glass", November 9, 1938). The operation continued to bring Jewish children (including Tina Ottman’s father and his three brothers) to the UK until September 1939, just before World War II broke out.

The feel-good story about Britain’s beneficence to the Jewish children has its dark side, and the presenter believes that the time has arrived for a more critical approach to this famous episode of history. Using documentary clips, including interviews with the presenter’s own father, the presenter will explore how the children often suffered from intense cultural insensitivity, culture shock and trauma, as they were told to forget their religious practices, their mother tongues, and to eat, dream and breathe only in English.

Tina Ottman is an Associate Professor at Doshisha University’s Faculty of Global and Regional Studies, and holds a PhD in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford in the UK.

This event is co-sponsored by SIETAR Kansai and will be followed by a dinner party at a nearby restaurant. RSVP by Wednesday, January 23rd, to fujimotodonna@gmail.com

Our Osaka Chapter AGM (Annual General Meeting) is a chance for our officers to report on the past year in our chapter and recent developments in JALT more broadly, discuss officer positions and plans for the coming year, and for members and non-members alike to find out more about the inner workings of our chapter and JALT. This will also be a great chance to share stories about JALT2018 in Shizuokaand discuss other recent happenings.

Osaka JALT members interested in nominating yourself or another member to be an officer in the coming year, please email us at osakajalt@gmail.com by Dec 8, especially if you're not able to attend the AGM.

After our official business meeting from 10:00 am to noon at the Lifelong Learning Center in the Ekimae Dai-2 Building 5F, please join us for lunch at the nearbyIstanbul Nazar restaurant even if you aren't able to attend the AGM itself. RSVP by Friday, Dec 7 so we can be sure to reserve enough seats. After lunch, join us for the annual Umeda Snowman Festival and/or some hot spiced wine and German sausages at the German Christmas Market at the Sky Building. Finally, from 6:30 pm, join us for dinner at Le Marrakech Moroccan restaurant with more thought-provoking discussion and cross-cultural culinary delights. And of course there are many options for nijikai in the area for those interested as well.

It's a veritable moveable feast to round off the year! Please join us for any part or parts of the day that you like. RSVP appreciated by Friday, Dec 7.

The Four Corners Tour presents high-profile speakers from the JALT international conference to the far reaches and "four corners" of Japan each year. Over the past several years, the four Kansai area JALT chapters have collaborated to be sure that some of these presenters from overseas visited us somewhere in Kansai. This year it's Nara's turn to host the main event with two invited speakers presenting versions of their JALT2018 talks tailored towards a more interactive setting. Judith O’Loughlin from the USA will present "Strategies for fostering resilience in young learners", and Thongsouk Keomany (this year's Bill Balsamo Asian Scholar, from Laos) will enliven us with his natural charm, wit and warm heart as he talks about his students, experiences and his work in the English Department at the National University of Laos.

Judith B. O'Loughlin has taught in K-12, adult education, and graduate university TESOL endorsement programs. She consulted and taught for U.S. federal and state grants to train ESL and Special Education teachers. As a consultant, her focus is on standards-based differentiated curriculum, collaborative teaching, and newcomers with interrupted education. She is the author of The Academic Language Accelerator (Oxford) and co-author of Students with Interrupted Formal Education: Where They Are and What They Need (Corwin).

Thongsouk Keomany was born in Louangphabang Province, in the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic. He has studied in Laos, Singapore and Japan and is currently working on his PhD at the University of Malaysia. He works at the National University of Laos, where he has been teaching under- and post-graduate students, for 22 years. He was the Head of the Department of Academic Affairs for several years and now he is the Deputy Head of the English Department in charge of International Programs, the LaoTESOL Co-ordinator, the LAN project Academic Advisor, and a member of the Inclusive Education Committee in the Faculty of Letters. He is also the author of English Language for Lao Students, Books 3-12. These texts are used in all primary and secondary schools throughout Laos. He specializes in planning, evaluation and curriculum design. He believes that the principles and maxims of teaching, from KNOWN to UNKNOWN, can help his learners improve their ability to study, particularly in inclusive classrooms.

If you are unable to make it to JALT2018 in Shizuoka, or even if you are going but wish to see these presenters up close and more personally, then you will not want to miss this special event. If you have time after the presentations, please plan to also join us for lunch and a walk to some of the nearby classic and World Heritage sites of Nara.

Thongsouk has studied in Laos, Singapore, and Japan, and is currently working on his PhD at the University of Malaysia. He works at the National University of Laos, where he has been teaching under- and post-graduate students for 22 years. He was the Head of the Department of Academic Affairs for several years and now is the Deputy Head of the English Department in charge of International Programs as well as the LaoTESOL Coordinator,the LAN project Academic Advisor, and a member of the Inclusive Education Committee in the Faculty of Letters. He is the author of English Language for Lao Students, Books 3-12, which are textbooks used in all primary and secondary schools throughout Laos. He specializes in planning, evaluation and curriculum design, and believes that the Principles and Maxims of Teaching from NKOWN to UNKNOWN can help learners improve their ability to study, particularly in inclusive classrooms.

Lingua World Cafe is a much loved and very laid back Canadian style place known for it's friendly atmosphere, craft beers, coffees, and sandwiches. It's a short walk from Exit 5 of Tanimachikyuchome metro station or Kintetsu Uehonmachi station. We plan to be there for a few hours from about 6:30 or so, but feel free to join us whenever is convenient, for as long or as short as you have time. To help us and the cafe have a better idea of how many to plan for, please RSVP using this link by Thursday evening. It's sure to be a wonderful evening.